Sunday, March 13, 2011

FFwD: Where has all the time gone? (Scheduled Recipes)

Ugh. Work is crazy, my house is a mess, and I haven't blogged in 2 weeks. But, I have at least been doing my weekly Dorie cooking!

This one will be relatively short because a) I think I haven't blogged in part due to thinking of all I wanted to say and b) it has come to my attention that I'm a little, say, long-winded. The one issue is that I have cooked a lot of recipes from the book recently, so I'm breaking the posts up into Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Recipes.

First up? Scheduled Recipes! I'll go in reverse chronological order; thus, we are beginning with the Beggar's Linguine.

Beggar's Linguine
Verdict: Fast, easy, and tasty. But would I add it to the rotation? No...it's a good every-now-and-then dish.

This is not a recipe I would've chosen to make on my own, unless I was in some weird mood, due to the preponderance of dried fruit (figs and raisins). I'm just not a huge fan. But, the sum is better than the constituent parts and I can see how this would be soul-warming when jet-lagged and cold. I didn't alter the recipe at all, but for using penne because I forgot to buy linguine and for using 1 tbsp less of the butter because I really didn't feel like hunting up an extra stick just for that tablespoon.

Wine: I served it with a Burgundian Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune. Chardonnay is a really acidic grape, which of course makes it a wonderful food wine. The French style really showcases the grape rather than the oak barrel or malolactic fermentation, so if you're a fan of big, buttery chards, this is not the wine for you. I specifically chose a French Chardonnay precisely because the pasta itself is rather big and buttery and I wanted to complement, rather than match, that. According to my guinea pigs, they agreed that a)the recipe was lovely and b) the wine paired quite well.

In the end? The best part was the taste of the nutty butter. Mmmmmm....

Savory Cheese and Chive Bread
Verdict: eh.

I was really looking forward to making this recipe. Bread? Cheese? Chives? I'm so there. Alas, the sum was not more than its constituent parts. It wasn't bad; it was just okay. Add to that the fact that I cut off part of a finger (with the nail) while chopping the chives for this particular recipe, and I was less than enthused. (Really, the chopping finger part didn't affect my verdict of the recipe's taste, but the "eh" flavor + chopped finger = not overly pleased.)

The Main Guinea Pig (aka husband) thought it was okay, and that it definitely needed to be eaten warm. I'm not sure I'll make this again, though I can see it being nice alongside an omelette or some such eggy, breakfast thing.

I will end this post by saying that this particular week--the one ending with March 4th--was one which was not so lucky with me and the Dorie recipes. I had a couple in a row that were just "eh." Ah well, I guess they can't all be winners.

I'm not sure what it means when even the cookbook author admits that it was tasty late at night and that was the only thing being served. But jet lagged and cold? I'll make it someday out of curiosity but as you say, its not in the rotation!

About Me

I teach at a university in the West and I cook. I study French stuff, when I have my research hat on, so I also like French food. I've lived in Paris (in the 6ème) and there, as here, I tend to cook for myself.
I actually prefer baking, but there's all those calories, you know. I also like wine a lot. It's important to me to eat good food and drink good wine.
That last is the fun part. The work of cooking? It's all about the stress relief.